Privates Gerald Gordon and Willie Edmond Campion, 10th Battalion, AIF
Australian War MemorialGerald Campion was born on 8 March 1890 in Minlaton, South Australia, the eldest son of Joseph and Clara Campion. Two years later, his brother Willie was born.
The boys were educated at Curramulka Public School and St Bartholomew’s School at Norwood. Their father died suddenly in March 1902. When the First World War began, Gerald was working as a farm labourer and Willie a mason in Curramulka.
Gerald enlisted at Oaklands on 16 January 1915, following his brother, Willie, who had enlisted on New Year’s Eve 1914. The brothers were reunited at the base infantry depot and were allotted to the 5th reinforcements to the 10th Battalion.
On 20 April, the Campion brothers embarked from Outer Harbour aboard the transport ship Hororata for Egypt. After a brief stop, they were sent on to Gallipoli, where they arrived in July. Willie was evacuated to England in September suffering dysentery but Gerald remained on Gallipoli until the 10th Battalion was withdrawn in late November.
The brothers were reunited in early March 1916 and towards the end of the month, they sailed for France.
After a period of orientation in a quieter part of the line near Armentières, the 10th Battalion moved south and participated in its first major battle on the Western Front at Pozières. The battalion suffered heavy casualties. Willie was wounded by shrapnel and again evacuated to England.
Gerald Campion saw further action near Mouquet Farm before the 10th Battalion was sent to the Ypres sector to rest. In October, the battalion returned to the Somme, where the men endured one of the worst winters in recorded history. That December, Gerald contracted mumps, and was admitted to a hospital to recuperate.
He returned to the battalion the following February and took part in pursuing the German army as it withdrew to the Hindenburg Line. After a few more periods of illness, he returned to the battalion in mid-August and reunited with his brother.
In September 1917, the 10th Battalion took part in the battles of Menin Road and Polygon Wood in Belgium, suffering heavy losses. In early October, they were in support of the capture of Broodseinde Ridge.
In the early hours of 9 October a raiding party attacked Celtic Wood. The raid proved disastrous for the already depleted 10th Battalion: of the 88 men involved, 36 were killed.
Willie Campion was listed among the missing.
Early the next morning, as the 10th Battalion was being relieved, the Australians came under German artillery fire.
Gerald Campion was hit in the face and right forearm by shrapnel. He was carried to the 10th Casualty Clearing Station where he died shortly after.
He was laid to rest in the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, aged 27.
When the news was relayed, the Campion family were devastated. A later investigation found that Willie had been killed during the raid on Celtic Wood, just one day before Gerald.
Willie was 25 years old.
Michael Kelly, Historian, Military History Section
Image: Willie and Gerald Campion with their mother before embarkation, c.1915. Photo courtesy of the family.
- Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/AWM2017.1.44
